West Spotlight: Four programs that have surprised in recruiting

The 2024 football season is in full swing and programs across the country are working to close out the 2025 recruiting cycle on a high note. Here are four programs that are punching above their weight in the West.

First-year coach Kalen DeBoer coached for a couple seasons at Washington and before that at Fresno State so he and Alabama general manager Courtney Morgan are leaning on their West Coast connections to land some top players in California.

Plus, the Crimson Tide are landing some of the nation’s top prospects in Mission Viejo four-star cornerback Dijon Lee Jr., Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei teammates Chuck McDonald and Abduall Sanders, four-star tight end Kaleb Edwards from Northern California and Carmel standout Jackson Lloyd, who could be quickly moving up in the rankings after a great senior season. Even Alabama’s future kicker, Alex Asparuhov, is from Fresno (Calif.) San Joaquin Memorial.

The Crimson Tide have the second-ranked class nationally right now and one major reason is because Alabama has prioritized West recruiting and has had a ton of success in that region.

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Maybe no program in the country – including the local ones – are recruiting the West better than Oregon as coach Dan Lanning has built a national title contender in Eugene. The Ducks have zero in-state commitments yet more than half of their recruiting class is from the West region.

There was no bigger news for Oregon this week than when the Ducks flipped five-star offensive lineman Douglas Utu from Tennessee. Utu could play right tackle but it wouldn’t be a surprise he moves inside at the college level as he joins Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman teammate Alai Kalaniuvalu in the class.

In California, Oregon tapped powerhouse Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei for running back Jordon Davison and edge rusher Nasir Wyatt and then hit up Oregon legacy and four-star quarterback Akili Smith Jr. in the class. The Ducks also offered Cal quarterback commit Jaron Sagapolutele in recent days and Oregon is his dream school.

Looking for production at receiver? How about four-star Cooper Perry out of Scottsdale (Ariz.) Notre Dame Prep, who has eight touchdowns already in four games.

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Other than just a couple of players, first-year coach Mike Elko and his staff have targeted in-state and West region players to fill out this loaded class that’s ranked No. 10 nationally.

It all starts with four-star quarterback Husan Longstreet from Corona (Calif.) Centennial who picked the Aggies over Auburn and others. The rest of the West commits are on defense and there is a lot of talent across the board.

California linebackers Marco Jones and Noak Mikhail, who’s still being pursued by USC and others, have length, speed and playmaking ability. Lancaster (Calif.) Quartz Hill’s Adonyss Currie and Phoenix (Ariz.) Desert Edge’s Jamar Beal-Goines have tremendous speed and length on the outside.

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Last recruiting cycle, Notre Dame had three West signees and no one was bigger than five-star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, who is already making a tremendous impact for the Irish.

Things are going well, again, even though quality is overriding quantity. Four-star defensive back Cree Thomas from Phoenix (Ariz.) Brophy Prep is a steady, talented player who hasn’t done many national events so he hasn’t gotten a ton of exposure. Three-star linebacker Ko’o Kia is a hard-hitter who can play in space and fits the style of the Irish defense.

And Notre Dame might not be done. Four-star linebacker Madden Faraimo from San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) JSerra Catholic visits this weekend and the Irish are in good shape in his recruitment.

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